196

16582 readers

1931 users here now

Be sure to follow the rule before you head out.

Rule: You must post before you leave.

^other^ ^rules^

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

668

Singular they rule (pawb.social)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

165 comments fedilink hide all child comments

ALT TEXT:

Panel 1: A person with the text "Singular 'they'" written on them smiling with open arms.
Panel 2: "Singular 'They'" beaten up by others who said, "Singular they is ungrammatical. It's too confusing," "How can anyone use plural pronouns for singular," and "Every pronoun should only have one purpose."
Panel 3: "You" hiding from the mob who was beating "Singular 'They'"
Panel 4: "German 'Sie'" hiding with even more fear next to "You"

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You used to be just second person plural, thou was second person singular. At some point, thou fell out of favour and we started using just you

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Alright, I can think of a few instances given that context. Funny how it's original usage is now relatively uncommon.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

You can see it's still grammatically plural even when used as a singular with the other words that go around it too. "You are" instead of the singular "is".

It can even make singular things kinda behave like they're plurals. Like "The Lemmy user is posting comments" vs. "you, the Lemmy user are posting comments"

Back in the day it was "thou art posting comments" (singular) and "ye are posting comments"(plural). With "ye" becoming "you" over time. Although they also had more funky letters like ȝ and þ and stuff.